After a quiet holiday break, Mike Postle is back in the news cycle as his attorney, Lowe & Associates, won their appeal to drop him as a client.
L&A, a notable Beverly Hills law firm that specializes in IP lawsuits, proudly announced taking him on in October 2020. But it took them just until December 8th, 2020 to change their mind and ask to be let out.
Mac VerStandig broke that story with a tweet of the front page of Lowe's motion to be relieved as counsel with the caption "Posted without comment."
It appears that the holidays were a busy time for the Sacramento courts because the permission for L&A to sack Postle off didn't come through until January 14th, 2021.
The timing could not be worse for Postle as the court is due to hear two anti-SLAPP cases from Veronica Brill and Todd Witteles in short order.
Witteles was the one who notified the poker world, tweeting: "Breaking Mike Postle news: - Attorney Steven Lowe was GRANTED dismissal as Postle's counsel, as requested, on 1/14/21. Veronica Brill filed an anti-SLAPP, to be heard 2/11. I also have an anti-SLAPP, to be heard on 2/10."
Linked from the tweet is the wording for the two anti-SLAPP cases which seek to have Postle's suit dismissed on the grounds of being frivolous and violating Brill and Witteles right to free speech. Both will be heard within a month.
If these cases are won, the usual outcome would be dismissal of Postle's case against them and a bill, sent to Postle, for Brill and Witteles legal fees.
The question for Postle now is to do the E.V. calculation on whether getting a new lawyer and fighting this will be a case of throwing good money after bad.
The other plaintiffs
Keeping track of who the plaintiff is in this game is like tracking the dealer in a game of win-the-button. We are currently four levels in with who is accusing who switching back and forth.
The simple breakdown is this. Poker players made public, non-court accusations of cheating against Mike Postle.
This led to legal suits filed by 88-players against Postle, Justin Kuriatis, and Stones Gambling hall. Postle was excused from the case, and the other two were (mostly) exonerated.
Then Postle sued a bunch of the people who sued him (and a few others for good measure). This is the case he has lost his lawyer for.
The anti-SLAPP suits are therefore a counter-suit to Postle's now lawyer-less case.
If Postle's suit does go to court, it will probably come full circle. Everything will depend on whether the preponderance of evidence suggests that Postle was actually cheating or not. Just as original public accusations asserted.
What next?
It is not currently clear if the other poker players and organizations implicated by Postle in his lawsuit will also be bringing their own anti-SLAPPs. Or indeed if they are bothering much with countering the accusations at all. So far most of them have been pretty quiet about the case as a group.
Postle's legal strategies have been erratic so far. This isn't the first time a lawyer has tried to be rid of him. Nor is it the first time he's tried to rid himself of a lawyer. It wouldn't be out of character for him to vanish again, dropping all charges. Nor would it be unusual to see him escalate to a multi-million dollar degree as he did in filing this suit. Either way, the other players might be waiting to see what he does next.
The two anti-SLAPP suits that are on the cards will probably be the next big break in the case. Whether the court grants Brill and Witteles their request will probably decide the nature of the next few bets as this game is dealt ever riverwards.
Featured image source: Twitter
